Checking in.
Summer is officially here and everyone is feeling it. Everyone has behaviors that help them cope with the heat. When I was a kid, I'd get up in the middle of the night and wet a washcloth in the sink. Then I'd take it back to bed and and lay it on my pillow. I remember in the morning my mama would be mad I'd gotten my pillow wet, but it was worth it to go to sleep with that nice cool feeling on my face.
Birds have things they do when it's hot, too. You can see them hop around the yard with their beaks open, or see them flapping around in a place where there is some loose dirt - both things keep them cool and ready for flight.
I've been doing a lot of reading lately, mostly the things the Ambassador sent me, but also a biography of Henry David Thoreau. I like what he has to say about the natural world, but he had a lot to say about other things too. His thinking is really holistic, though, so they're the same thing really, I think - the natural world and the other things.
Here is a quote from his writings that I liked, "Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh."
A while ago, the Ambassador did a meme in his journal. I decided to do it and I liked what he had to say about it, so I'll quote him, too.
"The idea is to write five statements, directed at five people you know, only they must be something you can't or won't ever actually say to the person. And you can't say who they're about. It's supposed to make you feel better about these things you can't say."
- We disappointed each other, hurt each other, and didn't talk enough. Things are different now, but when I do feel angry I feel almost more angry with you than with anyone else. I wish I could tell you that, because I know now that you'd understand. I think we'd finally talk. I miss you.
- I try not to think about it all the time, but sometimes I wonder how it would be if you came here to visit me. When I do think about it, I feel both joy and fear. The thing I'd like most is to think about a time like that and not feel the fear of what you'd think of me - just the joy of seeing you. I love you.
- I know someday we will talk. You'll come to see me and you'll ask me questions and I'll try to answer them. I don't know if you'll understand my answers, or if there is anything to understand. I realize now that I don't know who you are, but I don't think you know that either. Maybe you'll tell me when you find out.
- We're so unalike, like people from two different planets. At least I always thought so. Now I think maybe I was wrong. I should have gotten to know you better, I should have tried harder. We could both have used another friend. Maybe someday we'll talk about it. Even if we don't, I'm sorry for the pain I caused you.
- When came here, I thought I knew everyone I was ever going to know. I thought that my family and my friends could only get farther away. I didn't expect to make a friend, to find you here, saying things that I didn't expect anyone to say. Wherever you go from here, I'll be thinking of you. Thank you.
I'm not sure how that makes me feel yet, but I guess I'll find out.
Birds have things they do when it's hot, too. You can see them hop around the yard with their beaks open, or see them flapping around in a place where there is some loose dirt - both things keep them cool and ready for flight.
I've been doing a lot of reading lately, mostly the things the Ambassador sent me, but also a biography of Henry David Thoreau. I like what he has to say about the natural world, but he had a lot to say about other things too. His thinking is really holistic, though, so they're the same thing really, I think - the natural world and the other things.
Here is a quote from his writings that I liked, "Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh."
A while ago, the Ambassador did a meme in his journal. I decided to do it and I liked what he had to say about it, so I'll quote him, too.
"The idea is to write five statements, directed at five people you know, only they must be something you can't or won't ever actually say to the person. And you can't say who they're about. It's supposed to make you feel better about these things you can't say."
- We disappointed each other, hurt each other, and didn't talk enough. Things are different now, but when I do feel angry I feel almost more angry with you than with anyone else. I wish I could tell you that, because I know now that you'd understand. I think we'd finally talk. I miss you.
- I try not to think about it all the time, but sometimes I wonder how it would be if you came here to visit me. When I do think about it, I feel both joy and fear. The thing I'd like most is to think about a time like that and not feel the fear of what you'd think of me - just the joy of seeing you. I love you.
- I know someday we will talk. You'll come to see me and you'll ask me questions and I'll try to answer them. I don't know if you'll understand my answers, or if there is anything to understand. I realize now that I don't know who you are, but I don't think you know that either. Maybe you'll tell me when you find out.
- We're so unalike, like people from two different planets. At least I always thought so. Now I think maybe I was wrong. I should have gotten to know you better, I should have tried harder. We could both have used another friend. Maybe someday we'll talk about it. Even if we don't, I'm sorry for the pain I caused you.
- When came here, I thought I knew everyone I was ever going to know. I thought that my family and my friends could only get farther away. I didn't expect to make a friend, to find you here, saying things that I didn't expect anyone to say. Wherever you go from here, I'll be thinking of you. Thank you.
I'm not sure how that makes me feel yet, but I guess I'll find out.